Well, you can only expect to push out a release candidate so long until you have to package up what's been done as intermediate release. Today, Lyle called it a beta 6 day and packaged up the last month's work into what will hopefully be our last beta.

So, for all of you struggling with image module updates and broken image support... for our friends developing themes and wishing the cart block was just a little cleaner... for the number of you who have been filing much appreciated patches for those little bugs you turn up... this release is for you.

I'm happy to report we have over 20 contributors attributed in the release notes, a huge step forward as we try to get more eyes on the core code. Many thanks to the newcomers who are plugging away with ideas and brainstorming even in this slow period of development. (i.e. keep on brainstorming on making the recurring module useful, univate et al!) There are over 70 commits this release, and we look forward to a smashing release candidate when it comes.

What's the hold-up? Where's the roadmap? Why is this still a beta? Well, right now the only thing holding back a release candidate is the completed integration of the new price handler system spearheaded by cha0s. Lyle and I had a mini-code sprint at my place on Saturday and were able to commit the core API, but it is not yet fully implemented across the core Ubercart modules. It's close, so close, and we could use a couple more reviewers. You should start checking the code out at comment 46 of the price handler issue.

Why wait for this one patch? Well, it basically paves the way for discounts, fees, and taxes systems to all affect prices through a single system. The Discount Framework will run through this new system, and future VAT solutions will have a clean way to alter what gets displayed for a price where tax must be shown as included on various screens. This is such a huge boon to Ubercart internationally that we had to get it in for 2.0.

The best thing? It's almost ready to roll...

So, backup and update your sites, run the beta 6 through the wringer, and let us know where those remaining issues are. If you've been having trouble getting going on beta 5 due to changes in our image module dependencies, start afresh with beta6 and the latest versions of our dependencies and it should straighten you out.